The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,
- KJV These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,
- NKJV ‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind;
- NASB ‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the great lizard in its kinds,
- NLT “Of the small animals that scurry along the ground, these are unclean for you: the mole rat, the rat, large lizards of all kinds,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God lists certain small crawling creatures as unclean for Israel. The point is that Israel's whole life, even its diet, was set apart to God.
Overview
Continuing the dietary laws, the LORD names common swarming creatures—weasel, rat, and various lizards—as ritually unclean. These distinctions trained Israel to live as a holy, set-apart people in every detail. The categories of clean and unclean foreshadowed the deeper distinction between holiness and defilement that finds its resolution in Christ, who later declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Lev 11:41–42Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten.
- Ps 10:3For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
- Heb 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Phil 3:19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- Eph 4:14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- Hag 2:6For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
- John 6:26Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
- Isa 66:17“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Tim 3:2–5For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
- Ps 17:13–14Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- John 6:66From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.
- Luke 12:15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
- Col 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Luke 16:14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
- Lev 11:20–21All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 11:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.